Tuesday, October 20, 2009

National Love Your Body Day


Photo by Catie Wilson
Many girls today look to fashion magazines to tell them what is beautiful. This has become very harmful for young women that measure their worth by the size of their waist.


In today’s society women are bombarded with images of pin-thin models, and air brushed photos of celebrities. It is hard to escape these images. It is easy to see how young women that is maturing and developing at this time can be insecure about her body. Many college age girls feel that the media has had a major impact on creating this type unrealistic beauty.

On September 25, 1998, thousands of women’s right activists took part in the first ever “Love Your Body Day”. The activists wanted to bring to light all of the harm that the images of women in the media have caused women in society, and to encourage women to celebrate and love their bodies.

The National Organization for Women Foundation organization is passionate about furthering women's rights through education and litigation. Affiliated with the National Organization for Women, the NOW Foundation since 1998, has worked year after year to help women embrace their bodies. They created the National Love Your Body day to challenge the practices of advertisers, and of the fashion and media industries.

Last Wednesday, October 21, 2009, people all over the United Stated took part in the 12th annual Love Your Body Day. The campaign that is pushing to get rid of all of these fake images, and for women to see what real beauty is has grown to be very successful.

Many women in colleges across the United States are struggling maintain a good and positive body image. That is one reason why so many have participated in the Love Your Body campaign. Having a positive body is difficult for women of all ages, but in particular the young women transitioning into adulthood.

It has been said time and again that women try to compete with each other. This can also play a huge role in the destruction of a young woman’s self image.

Elizabeth Vo, a junior at the University of Oklahoma believes that this peer pressure is what causes many issues for young college age women.



It seems that the NOW Foundations’ work is paying off. There are some brands, such as Dove that has tried to uncover the lies that the media has forced on society. It seems that that many young girls are growing up with this false idea of what is truly beautiful. It is important to show young girls growing up in today's society the importance of loving themselves the way they are.

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